As part of the BUSPH Department of Environmental Health’s seminar series, Climate Change: Science, Health, and Policy, Kathleen Fitzsimmons, MPH, will present on “Occupational Heat-Related Illness.” Ms. Fitzsimmons serves as Epidemiologist for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Workers represent a distinct population at risk for heat-related illness (HRI), considered to be a leading occupational health effect of global climate change. Environmental heat is a potential hazard in a number of industries, including agriculture, yet there is a lack of information on the extent of HRI among US workers. Ms. Fitzsimmons will provide an overview of occupational HRI, summarize California’s outdoor workplace HRI prevention regulation, and describe a pilot surveillance project conducted by the California Department of Public Health to assess the statewide burden of occupational HRI.